Electrical power outlets carry electric currents at a level sufficient to cause serious physical injury or death to one who is exposed to such currents. The death toll due to accidental electrocution is not high compared to total population, but neither is it insignificant, with accidental electrocution claiming, for example, between 500 and 1,000 lives every year in the United States. A greater number of people suffer non-fatal but still serious and/or painful electricity-related injuries, and household wiring is involved in a majority of these incidents. Unprotected power outlets therefore pose significant safety risks, yet power outlets are nearly ubiquitous in modem society, with dozens of them existing in a typical home.
Outlet covers designed to prevent accidental contact with dangerous electrical currents have been developed, but the existing outlet covers either fail to cover all of the outlet openings, must be manually removed before the outlet can be used, in what is often a rather difficult or inconvenient procedure, or suffer from some other drawback. Accordingly, there exists a need for an outlet safety barrier that covers all openings of an outlet and that moves aside easily, conveniently, and automatically when an electrical plug inserted, but is much more difficult to move aside under other circumstances.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical, mechanical, or other manner.